so to start off i got the package and i cant wait until thanksgiving now! (We sent instant mashed potatoes and gravy mix!) i am getting a chicken and mashed potatoes and apparently there is stuffing somewhere i just have to find it.
but anyway this week was interesting, just a lot of walking. no lessons but lots of potential investigators. and then Wednesday came around and we were on the back of a motor and received a phone call from our zone leaders and elder Andrus is transferring! so we finished out our day and went home. we had some extra elders at our apartment because half of our zone got transferred and some are training new missionaries. so its exciting. so thursday the ones who were training left in the morning to go to their training in Tacloban and me and elder andrus went to Rizzal to share with one of our potential investigators. i thought i was gunna die on the way he drove so fast but its all good, buhi pa. so then we went to a member to ask where he lived and she walked us to his house. turns out its her nephew so she stayed and i was excited to have a fellowshipper there. but it all went down hill he started talking about how he wants to know what church is true so he has been going to a lot of them and i was super excited. but as we were teaching the member wouldn't let us teach! as soon as we said something she would go off on stuff that wasn't important like what Gods name is and things like that. and when she started explaining about the quorum of the 70 i took the picture from her and bore my testimony and asked her to give the prayer before it went any farther. me and elder andrus went back for lunch and after we made BR's, or pages for our book of remembrance. its pretty cool thing, when missionaries transfer you make them for each other and you put them in your book so you can remember them and people have members do it too. its going to be a really good thing to help me remember people. but then he packed and we went out so he could say bye to all of our friends and investigators and all the members. then it started pouring down rain and we had forgotten our umbrellas so we ran to the members restaurant and ate there and waited for the rain to stop, then back home and he finished packing.
so then friday we got up and got ready and went to tacloban at about 7:30, and then to one of the other church buildings. its 2 story, its awesome but i got there and elder leishmen and mits (His companions from the MTC) were there and i got to hang out with them! so then the meeting started and they handed out the transfer announcements and i saw an elder walking back and I'm like that's my new companion. i heard him say dulag behind me and i said ya that will be fun but didn't tell him i was his new companion until after the meeting. but elders mits and leishman are in the same district now and still speaking cebuano, darn! I'm still in the same place but i am really confident in my language skill right now. my companion is elder ostler he has been here one transfer less than elder andrus he was assigned warry warry when he first got here but has been in cebuano for about 5 months now. he was zone leader before but has come to be my follow up trainer and the new dulag branch president. yay, as if we didn't have enough work as it is here in dulag. but i think it will be great he is an amazing missionary! he is from utah and is ready to work! so after the meeting he went for an interview, then back to dulag and we went to eat and to meet as many members as we could in a few short hours.
in the morning we had a meeting with a lady from Kazakhstan so it was in english really weird but turns out she was only there to try to prove us wrong. it was crazy we kind of just listened and she had us open to bible verses and anytime we had her look at one she would just say but here it says this what does that mean. so it went down hill really fast. she thinks she received a vision from god and he gave her power. so elder ostler said i don't care what you say, i ask you in the name of Christ to stop disrupting me i have received power from God to say this and i ask you to read this book before you say anything else. and ya so we will see. we have another appointment with her next week. on accident their driver asked us if we could come talk again next week and elder ostler didn't know he was their driver so he said yes. so one more and hopefully never again. but yes he is amazing and i cant wait to see what else he can do.
later no one was home so we went to go exploring and i saw a house out of the corner of my eye and said i know this place i think its a member who had a stroke. so we waited outside and he finally came and we talked to him and he asked for a blessing. we set up an appointment with him for later today and then we went to other members and shared and set up more appointments. i can see this transfer is going to be really good and i can see dulag branch growing already.
then sunday me and elder ostler spoke and i told the members it isn't just our job, they have a resposabillity to help grow this branch and that we cant do it alone. and most of them had a smile on their faces when i was done. i was excited! so then church went on and we went home for study and lunch and then out to visit but the person was at work. so we went finding and got a few potential investigators. then went to share with an inactive member and i really think this time she might come back to church. we keep finding more and more members that are inactive, that have never actually had a testimony but they got baptized. so we are having to convert them for the first time and its a lot harder now then it would have been the first time. so we are going around just trying to reactive any one and every one. when we added up our numbers for the week elder ostler got to write them in with his numbers from his old area. he went from 170 attendance as a his goal to only having 26, so ya we have a lot of work to do and we are really excited. i can see the members getting excited too, so and i know this is going to be the transfer that gets this place going again. we just have to work hard and help these people to the best of our ability. i know you all can do the same as well. if you just ask the lord for help we can do anything. i love you all and want you all to know that i love this work and i know it is exactly what i am supposed to do. thank you for all the support
so for christmas i want a pair of athletic SHOES!!!! lol mine are starting to fall apart and all the ones here are fake and will just fall apart. and i lost the cord for my camera so i cant send pictures. i found a charger that works, but i need either a card reader or a new cord before you will get any new pictures. sorry. we had a typhoon come through this morning and our front porch started to flood but luckily it slowed up before it was enough to come in out apartment. well that's really all. just please don't forget to send the contacts, magic tricks, the cds and an english to tagalog dictionary if you can find one. and when i opened the package and saw the see's i was like no way! and the other missionaries from cali were like your so lucky! then i opened it yes, the most sweet thing i will eat on my whole mission oh and i am really going to enjoy the burrito tortillas after i get some refreid beans next time i got to tacloban YESSSS!!! thank you
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